**Q: Talk about the rematch from the beginning of the year with Buffalo.
TB:** Having them the last game of the year is pretty meaningful for us. We have to go out and play well. It is a very good defense that we are playing and offensively they have shown that they can score some points. It is a tough test any time we play a division opponent, especially the Bills.
**Q: I know it is a "we" game and it is prepare ahead, but could you have played any worse in that first game?
TB:** Not really. It obviously was not a very good show by me and not a very good show by our offense. It was just bad all the way around. I think we have tried to correct some of those things and I think we have taken some of the kinks out, but we have to make sure that it does not happen again.
**Q: Point some fingers. Yesterday, Coach Belichick said it was his fault for the loss. Now you are saying that you didn't play well. Whose fault was it?
TB:** It is a team game. When we don't play well it is probably because most of the team didn't play well. They were playing at a different speed than us. They physically outplayed us. Being out on the field it felt like you were just getting beat up play after play. They were hitting us harder than we were hitting them. We came out of that game not feeling very good about ourselves. I think there was a lot of evaluating that needed to be done and where we needed to get better.
**Q: How good of a team are you now?
TB:** In that first week, we didn't play very well all the way around. I think we have consistently we have gotten better over the course of the season. We still are not playing to the level we need to be playing. We are just going to continue to try to get it figured out.
**Q: How important is it to keep the momentum going by getting one more win heading into the postseason?
TB:** This is a very important game for us from the standpoint that is keeps things going in the right direction. This game means a lot to all of us. There is a rivalry between the Bills and obviously what happened in the first game. We want to go out and redeem ourselves.
**Q: That game was a week after Lawyer [Milloy] left. It was a turbulent week. Was it very unsettling now that you look back at it, that the game took place in an untimely manner?
TB:** That was a tough way to start the year, to get beat 31-0 on the road after a successful preseason. We felt like it was going to be a good year and then that first week we thought maybe we weren't as good as we thought we were. We learned from that game. We have taken those things and tried not to repeat them. Sometimes they still come up, like turning the ball over and the penalties that we had or the mental assignments that we missed. For the most part we have been better than that. If we are not better than that again, you might see the same thing and no one is trying to let that happen.
**Q: Coach talked about this being redemption and not revenge. Do you feel you have something to prove to yourselves?
TB:** Yeah. I think when you are playing this game and you play the division opponents twice a year. No matter the first outcome, you know that you are going to get them the second time around. The team that usually loses usually has a pretty bitter taste. There is something to be said for beating a team twice from your own division in the same year. We are trying not to let that happen. They obviously wiped up on us in the first game. We just can't allow it to happen.
**Q: Are you worried about the offense? You still aren't blowing people out.
TB:** I think you are always concerned when you are not scoring as many points as you would like to. We really haven't played the way we are capable. I think there are some things that hold us back that we are trying to get corrected from an overall execution standpoint. If we start many some of those plays, which we have at times, that will put us pretty good. Until we are consistently pretty good we won't be one of the best offenses in the league if we continue to do the things the way we have done.
**Q: Do you see Lawyer back there or do you just see safeties and corners?
TB:** I see the big, ugly 36 jersey running around and wreaking havoc like he always has.
**Q: You have still remained friends with Lawyer. Talk about that relationship.
TB:** He has been a friend since I got here and that remains. Hopefully he doesn't come to play this weekend. I don't know if he will buy into that. He is a great player and has been for a long time. It will be fun to get him back there. I need some bragging rights back. He has had one up on me for about four months.
**Q: After that game, did you ever envision that this team would go on the run that it has?
TB:** When you talk about winning 11 in a row, that is really tough to do. I don't think that we ever looked at it like that. We just kind of looked at it … I hate using that phrase, but you just take them as they come. We really have. We have done a good job of doing that. Anytime you start looking ahead and looking past people, you are going to lose. I remember sitting at 2-2 thinking we need to get to the bye week at 5-4. That was a long time ago and a lot of hits ago too. We really have done some good things and we have put ourselves in a good position. It doesn't do any good if we lose this week, which is the reason why there has to be attention to detail. We have to come out and be ready to go, especially with a defense that is ranked second in the league. We played the first and I don't see much of a difference.
**Q: What goes on with you at Christmas? Do you let yourself not think about football for a day?
TB:** I wish. The stress of Christmas like everyone else feels. No time to go shopping. I haven't even starting shopping yet. I still have a little time.
**Q: What do you want for Christmas?
TB:** I'm pretty good right now. I just want a win. I'd take that.
**Q: Personally after Lawyer's loss, did you think this team could rebound defensively like it has?
TB:** We have a lot of talent. Guys have really stepped in and filled the void. Guys have picked up a leadership role like Tedy Bruschi, Ted Johnson, Rodney [Harrison] and Ty Law. Tyrone Poole is playing great. Willie [McGinest] stepped up with [Mike] Vrabel. Everyone is playing great. If you were to say we would lose him and still be just as good, I wouldn't have thought so. It just shows you the type of character this team has.
